Northern Kings: Reborn

Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008 10:16 AM

Northern Kings

When you read this blog chances are that you despise acts like Dire Straits and Lionel Richie. OK, but what about if four Finnish metal singers calling themselves the Northern Kings team up to create a symphonic heavy rock album on which they cover songs by those two unmentionables? And it doesn't stop there. Consider the despicable Don't Bring Me Down (ELO), Mr. Mister's Northern Kings and even Phil Collins (albeit with his great break-up song In The Air Tonight). You wouldn't want to touch an album like that with a ten-foot pole, would you?

Trouble is: it works. Those four Finnish dudes deconstructed and rebuild the originals without mercy and Reborn is, well, a rejuvenation of songs that made the eighties such a dreaded decade. You know the songs, you hate songs at times, but now you can listen to the songs without having to fight down your lunch. Best track: a slowed down take on Billy Idol's Rebel Yell with sounds like a Iron Butterfly gig in a cathedral. To proof that they look for material outside the mainstream they picked Radiohead's Creep -- a tough call, but they get away with it and that is fucking special indeed. They were a huge success in Finland and now they are ready for the rest of world, starting off with the UK where Reborn will be released June 16th.

Northern Kings: Reborn

Northern Kings:
Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot)
Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica)
JP Leppäluoto (Charon)
J. Ahola (Teräsbetoni)

Reborn is released on Warner Bros.

Tracks:
  1. Don't Stop Believin'
  2. We Don't Need Another Hero
  3. Broken Wings
  4. Rebel Yell
  5. Ashes To Ashes
  6. Fallen On Hard Times
  7. I Just Died In Your Arms
  8. Sledgehammer
  9. Don't Bring Me Down
  10. In The Air Tonight
  11. Creep
  12. Hello
  13. Brothers In Arms

MP3: Northern Kings - Rebel Yell
MP3: Northern Kings - Creep

» northernkings.com
» myspace.com/northernkings

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# re: Northern Kings: Reborn

5/16/2008 12:24 PM by mike ryko
Isn´t it getting a bit tedious now, all these "ironic" cover versions? Around 1982 the Sisters of Mercy were doing a cover of ABBA´s "Gimme, Gimme, A Man After Midnight" (which, incidentally, Sweden´s Leather Nun then copied). Later we have the Wedding Present doing all sort of covers like this (a whole album I think) with "I think We´re Alone Now" covered by some other Indie band whose name I can´t reall. More recently there have been hundreds of such "tee-hee" covers (Richard Cheese does a cabaret version of "Rape Me", Arctic Monkeys do some silly girl band song, Ben Folds does Snoop Dog´s "Bitches Ain´t Shit). The list goes on and on.
Ultimately it boils down to two jokes:
a) Twee treatment of hard, violent song.
b) Hard treatment of twee song.
I think as a joke it´s getting a bit lame. Write your own songs or shut up.

# re: Northern Kings: Reborn

1/23/2009 11:01 PM by Whisper
eh, It is nice to hear music done the way it should be, with more vocal talent and musical imagination then most of those who originally made these songs... Bravo Northern Kings!

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